The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will play a key role in the government’s newly announced Advisory AI Growth Lab, a publicly funded initiative aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of artificial intelligence products and services across regulated sectors.
The AI Growth Lab is designed to help innovators navigate existing regulatory frameworks with greater confidence, enabling the responsible development and adoption of AI tools without the need for immediate regulatory overhaul. Legal services will be the first sector to participate, reflecting strong industry demand and the potential for clearer, more joined-up regulatory guidance to speed up innovation and adoption.
SRA chief executive Sarah Rapson said,”‘AI is already transforming legal services, from enabling small businesses to recover debts, to helping consumers navigate complex legal processes. These tools are improving access to justice in a practical and meaningful way. The lab will accelerate this progress, supporting the growth of legal services that benefit the public, and that maintain the high professional standards that underpin trust in the legal profession.”
The move is backed by evidence gathered through a call for inputs conducted by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which highlighted legal services as a priority area for early participation in the initiative.
Building on existing collaboration between regulators, the SRA will work alongside the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Legal Services Board. Together, regulators will engage with innovators to identify cross-regulatory challenges, address unintended barriers within existing rules and develop a clearer understanding of what effective AI oversight looks like in practice.
